So I got a call from a friend of mine who told me that he just unloaded an old Russian bike with a sidecar. Without hesitation I headed out. He told me that his friends uncle is going through a mid life crises and just wants to sell it. They had to remove the sidecar to get it into the back of the truck so as of right now the sidecar is detached and the bike is sitting on it's center stand. Body looks good with little to no rust. On the tank it appears that the PO tried to redo the pin strips. From what they told me that the bike starts but when they place it into gear it stalls. I'm not too familiar with Dnepr but am somewhat with Airheads. I'm interested in purchasing it but if not I want to get them enough info for them to get a decent price on it.

My questions:
-As for parts are they available just like airheads or are they more difficult to come by?
-What are the current market value
-Using the engine number or vin # how can I tell the year
-Are they worth to pick up?

Hi
I'm no expert, but that looks very to my 1988 MT11. It also looks in very good cosmetic order (compared to mine). You need to know more about the running issue - I think I'm right in saying the MT11 engines have a rep for not being very strong. My engine was replaced by a previous owner with one from a 73-ish Ural,and works great now. Your best bet for more info might well be http://www.russianbike.co.uk/index.p...cce3a2f6c9846a . There are some very knowledgeable Dnepr folk on there.

Value is pretty much what you're willing to pay for it but these are NOT collector value bikes. Just old Russian motorcycles. So no way get involved if you plan to flip it for profit. You'll get more satisfaction lighting your cigars with $100 bills. If it is mechanically as good as it looks my untrained guess would be in the 3 to 4 grand max range. As a fun hobby bike I've consider paying more for a great, properly papered flattie as a hobby bike but I like the older flathead Dneprs over the later OHV models but that's just me. If the seller doesn't know what year it is, tells me it doesn't have a current US title. That's a BIG red flag for me. Depending on what state you live in an untitled Dnepr, Chang Jiang or even Ural can be a royale PITA getting titled/street legal. DMV pays absolutely no attention to a foot deep pile of paperwork in Russin, Ukrainian or Chinese chicken scratch. Here in WA my hard learned policy is unless it's to be just a parts donor "no title, no sale."
Expect to source most of your repair parts(often used) to come from Europe and the former Eastern block countries. Parts are reasonably priced but you gotta look for them.
That one sure looks pretty but keep doing your homework.Start with your DMV and see what titling/license hoops you need to jump through. Also ask around on the Russianiron and CURD forum. More Dnepr owners there than the Sovietsteeds forum. Good luck and do your homework.

Thanks for all the input guys! The bike is currently register in CA. He is going to get the pink from his uncle later today. I'm currently "working" on my 79 R100RT with a Sputnik sidecar and not sure if I want to also pick this up. If anything I'm wanting to help get as much info on this bike to help him sell it. But from what I see the price ranges from 2500-4000. On the higher end, the bikes that I do see are ready to maybe minor things. As for this current bike I"m not sure what's wrong with it. It does look garaged and very clean.

A buddy of mine bought a Dnepr with two wheeldrive and Earl's forks in Fl a couple of years back. The outfit wasnot US. registered or anything easy.it came with a sheaf of paperwork in Russian , not a lot of use at the DMV unless you have an interpreter with you.
He got the guy down to $1600 for a sale price.
Here's the bike.

That bike looks like an MT-11, which was Dnepr's last gasp, pretty much. I have a '50s flathead IMZ/KMZ conglomeration heap that I overpaid for at $1600. I knew it at the time and was looking for a project, so it was OK by me. Most important thing was it had a title and had been registered previously.

Here on the East Coast the older Russian bikes seem further between, and a lot came into the country through a guy named Yuri in Ohio, especially the Dneprs. He sold a lot of them as "kit bikes" and they were notoriously unreliable, if you could put them together at all.

On the West Coast in WA there was a guy named Lloyd Lounsberry who imported and rebuilt for sale Dneprs under the name RAMCO. He is no longer doing so, but he and his bikes had a great reputation. If you can trace the bike back to him, I'd say 3-4K would be a fair price. otherwise, $2500 would be my limit for a non-running bike. Still, expect to do a lot of work, and don't expect Beemer airhead reliability or performance.

If you can get it cheaper, even better. The sidecar alone is usually worth more than the solo bike. You can always unload that for $1500 at least.

A buddy of mine bought a Dnepr with two wheeldrive and Earl's forks in Fl a couple of years back. The outfit wasnot US. registered or anything easy.it came with a sheaf of paperwork in Russian , not a lot of use at the DMV unless you have an interpreter with you.
He got the guy down to $1600 for a sale price.
Here's the bike.